An imposing wooden gate leads into the property. This entrance gate takes you into the paved main courtyard, which is surrounded by the manor house, the orangery and the stable. The remarkable architecture of this complex is unique. The complex is made up of a main section with a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor. This section is crowned with a mansard roof, which suggests that this part dates back to the 18th century. On its west side, there is an adjoining tower with a suspended balcony that looks down over the whole complex. In the court’s south-west corner, a round tower with brickwork and white stone is crowned with a cone roof. It links the main section to a south wing that lies at a right angle to the main section. This wing has a pavilion with a hipped roof. It also includes a gallery with a roof terrace edged with low walls of terracotta openwork. This gallery connects to the orangery. At the north end of the main section, there is an octagonal tower made of brick. This adjoining tower brings a certain symmetry and harmony to the whole complex. The north wing has elevations of rendering that coats its stonework. It also has touches of red brickwork, which forms the lintels and some of its quoins and window and door surrounds. The wing stretches on either side of a central avant-corps, through which a covered passageway runs from the courtyard into the grounds. On the east side of this avant-corps there is a stable and another part of the manor house. Upon the north, west and south sections of this remarkable complex, the roofs, which have slate tiles, flat tiles and zinc coverings, are diverse in shape and are punctuated with dormers and chimney stacks. The other outbuildings include a kennel and a henhouse, which are now disused, as well as storehouses. They stand north of the complex. Lastly, on the south side, a rocky outcrop houses a former icehouse. The ruins of a folly lie upon it. The manor house belonged to Harriet Howard (1823–1865), a British socialite and actress and a mistress of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (1808–1873) – the future Napoleon III. Indeed, she was his main financial backer.

The manor house

The manor house stands like a fortress, looking out over its paved main courtyard. Its central section is crowned with a mansard roof of slate tiles, flat tiles and zinc. And its main entrance door leads inside the house beneath an iron-and-glass canopy with motifs of volutes, flowers and foliage. In the court’s south-west corner, a round tower of brickwork, capped with a cone slate roof links the main section to the south wing, which includes a pavilion with a slate roof and a gallery with a roof terrace and arched windows. This gallery leads to the orangery. On the south side, a ground-floor terrace extends beneath a canopy that runs along the elevation facing the grounds. At the north end, an octagonal tower of brickwork with twin stained-glass windows links the main section to the north wing, which includes a former stable and storerooms.

The ground floor
You step through the main entrance door into a hall with a floor of cement tiles and walls adorned with dado panelling. At the end of the hallway, the main staircase, made of wood, leads upstairs inside the western tower. A door leads to two cellars. On the right, another one leads into a kitchen with a stone floor and fireplace. And another door leads to a pantry and a scullery. On the left, the entrance hall also connects to a dining room with a floor of Versailles parquet and walls with almond-green wooden panelling. This dining room includes a stove in an alcove. A wooden door leads into a first lounge. The 18th-century wooden panelling that adorns its walls is painted grey. Chevron parquet extends across the room. This lounge includes a black marble fireplace beneath a mirror. Above the doors there are oval bas-reliefs depicting Renaissance figures. One of these doors leads into a second lounge, which is adorned with lower wooden panelling and wood strip flooring. A marble fireplace stands beneath a window. Another door leads into a second hallway, which has a floor of terracotta tiles and cream-coloured floor tiling patterned with small black square inserts. In the tower, there is a lavatory filled with natural light from a bull’s-eye window with coloured panes. A wooden door leads into a reading room with wood strip flooring, a black marble fireplace beneath a chimney breast and old glazed bookcases on both sides. A glazed double door leads out into the grounds. Another one leads into a small hallway with wooden cupboards and a floor of cement tiles. Lastly, a double door leads into a dual-aspect gallery bathed in natural light from arched windows that look out at the main courtyard and the grounds. This gallery leads to the orangery.

The first floor
You reach the first floor via the main staircase. A landing, filled with natural light from a bull’s-eye window, connects to a first bedroom on its left side and then to a second one. A third bedroom leads to a fourth one, which features a black marble fireplace and wood strip flooring. There is a lavatory beside it. A passageway bathed in natural light from a stained-glass window takes you through the octagonal tower into the north wing. On the right, the main landing leads to a corridor that looks out over the main courtyard and connects to a bedroom with a tap, a black marble fireplace and wood strip flooring. There is a second bedroom with a tap and a third one with a wardrobe and a marble fireplace beneath a stained-glass window. Nearby, there is a walk-in wardrobe with a floor of octagonal terracotta tiles and a lavatory in the tower. This level also has a bedroom with wallpaper with a toile de Jouy motif and a black marble fireplace, as well as another bedroom with a corner fireplace, also made of black marble. French windows lead out onto the roof terrace, which is edged with low walls of terracotta openwork, above the gallery on the ground floor. The passageway that leads into the north wing also leads to a hallway that connects to a linen room with a tap and to two bedrooms. A wooden staircase leads to a vast bedroom, then to a corridor that connects to four bedrooms, each of which has a tap and, at the end, a loft space with a wooden door. This loft space is filled with natural light from a bull’s-eye window. Lastly, there is a bathroom and two bedrooms. A staircase leads down to a self-contained section on the ground floor with a lavatory, a kitchen, a landing that looks out at the main courtyard and a lounge with a marble fireplace, wood strip flooring and a glazed door that leads out into the main courtyard.

The second floor
You reach the second floor via the main staircase. Up here, there is a landing with wood strip flooring, a bedroom and a loft space. From the landing, a door leads into a second loft space. And a ladder staircase takes you up to a higher level, where there is another loft space. French windows lead out from this space onto a balcony.